The disclosures herein relate generally to computer systems and, more particularly, to enabling auto-insertion of production level devices (xe2x80x9cPLDsxe2x80x9d).
Computer systems and components require testing during manufacture and assembly to ensure proper operation. This testing requires that PLDs, such as audio cards, video cards, and memory modules, be inserted into appropriate connectors to test the functionality of the connectors. The wide variety of connectors available requires that many different sizes and shapes of PLDs be used during testing. The repetitive insertion and removal of a PLD stresses the PLD, which eventually causes breakage and/or failure of the PLD.
One method used for the actual insertion and removal process is to manually insert and remove the PLDs. However, the manual insertion of PLDs, such as dual in-line memory modules (xe2x80x9cDIMMsxe2x80x9d), by a test operator for the purpose of functionally testing motherboards has proven in the past to cause extensive damage to the motherboards and the PLDs, which results in increased cost to manufacturers. Automated testing was introduced to overcome some of the problems presented by the manual testing procedures, but the testing introduced other complications.
A major complication introduced with automated testing devices is that they require a means to access the tooling features of a PLD, which for purposes of example is a DIMM. Tooling features on a DIMM or other PLD are holes placed on the printed circuit board which are used during the manufacturing process for hold-down purposes, and to determine the degree of conformity of the position of a pattern relative to its intended position, or with that of any other conductor layer of the board. During automated testing, the tooling features are used by an automated test device to correctly insert the DIMM module into the appropriate connector of a computer unit under test (xe2x80x9cUUTxe2x80x9d). However, different PLDs generally have different tooling features and a large variety of PLDs may be used to test the various connectors of a UUT. Because of this variety, the testing procedures and equipment should account for all the variations in tooling features.
In order to align the DIMM during the insertion process, the automated test equipment generally uses special tooling holes which have been added to the DIMM and are matched against the available tooling features on the DIMM. These tooling holes are generally non-plated tooling holes which have a very tight tolerance. However, DIMMs typically have very little available space for adding the tooling holes and so additional material is generally needed on the DIMM to provide sufficient surface area.
Because of the lack of available space on which to place the tooling holes, it is often necessary to create custom PLDs to use during testing. This is an expensive solution which requires relatively long lead times to design, create, and incorporate into the testing process. Once developed, future versions of the custom device are generally necessary as the tooling features on the PLDs often change over time. Each iteration requires extensive redesign and related tooling costs.
To avoid these and other problems, it is desirable to have a device which is able to utilize xe2x80x9coff the shelfxe2x80x9d PLDs for automated testing, without expensive customization or excessive retooling. Such a device would provide the ability to securely retain a PLD, such as a standard DIMM, and could be used for multiple types of PLDs without extensive modification. Therefore, what is needed is a device that enables the auto-insertion of PLDs into a UUT using automated testing equipment.
One embodiment, accordingly, provides for retaining a production level device for use with an automated testing device for testing personal computer components. To this end, an extrusion includes a first portion for receiving the production level device and a second portion for attaching the extrusion to the automated test device. The production level device is precisely retained in the first portion by a moldable fastener.
A principal advantage of this embodiment is that the production level device is held in the correct position which enables accurate auto-insertion to occur.